Shirt protector



March 15, 1943- R. J. HENNESSEY ETAL 2,314,213

SHIRT PROTECTOR Filed Jan. 30, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet l 3 140mm nessgy fiemzk and Russell cl. Hen Worthington D.

w lmmmmmmmmmmmm mm mm March 1943- R. J. HENNESSEY ETAL 2,314,213

SHIRT PROTECTOR Filed Jan. 30, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet. 2

R d QYWMM ussell Henhesse Worth'm v Reynolds qyer W144 gu D. Genck. and

Patented Mar. 16, 1943 UNITED STAT SHIRT PROTECTGR Russell J. Hennessey, Worthington D. Genck, and Reynolds Guyer, St. Paul, Minn, assignors to Waldorf Paper Products Company, St. Paul, Minn, a corporation of Minnesota Application January 30, 1942, Serial No. 428,900

9 Claims. (01. 1223-71) Our invention relates to shirt protectors and has for an object to provide a protector which will protect both the body and collar of the shirt and prevent wrinkling and deformation of the same in the handling of the laundered shirt.

Another object of the invention resides in providing a protector which will permit of stacking the shirts and which will hold the shirts in spaced relation to prevent crushingof the collars thereof.

Another object of the invention resides in providing a shirt protector having a body member over which the body of the shirt may be folded and by means of which the body of the shirt is held in position and prevented from wrinkling.

Another object of the invention resides in providing an end wall extending outwardly from one end of the body member of the protector and restraining movement of the shirt in one direction and in providing other means for engagement with the interior of the collar of the shirt to restrain movement of the shirt in the other direction and thus hold the shirt in position upon the body member of the protector.

A still further object of the invention resides in providing a shield extending outwardly from the outermost end of the end wall of the protector and overlying the collar of the shirt .to protect the same.

An object of the invention resides in providing one or more supports extending inwardly from the shield and adapted to engage the shirt or body member to hold the shirt in spaced relation relative to the collar of the shirt.

A feature of the invention resides in forming a flange eXtending inwardly from the outermost edge of the shield and forming one of the supports.

Another object of the invention resides in providing holding members on said flange for engagement with the innermost surface of the collar to hold the shield in position.

An object of the invention resides in forming a window in the shield through which the interior of the collar may be viewed.

A feature of the invention resides in providing supporting members on the shield at the edges of said window for supporting the shield.

Another object of the invention resides in providing abutments on said supporting members adapted to engage the collar on the interior thereof and restrain movement of the shirt in the opposite direction.

Other objects of the invention reside in the novel combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter illustrated and/or described. j p.

form the various parts .of the protector.

In the drawings:

' Fig. 1 is a plan view of a shirt illustrating a shirt protector embodying the features of my invention applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the structure shown in Fig. 1 with portions thereof broken away, said view being drawn to a greater scale.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the shirt protector in erected position and removed from the shirt.

Fig. 4 is a developed view of the blank from which the shirt protector is constructed.

Fig. 5 is a side elevational view showing a number of shirts with protectors applied thereto and arranged in stacked relationship.

In the handling of laundered shirts, it becomes highly desirable to prevent wrinkling or folding of the body of the shirt and crushing of the collar thereof. Devices have been used to reduce these disadvantages, but such devices usually require the use of a box or carton in which the laundry is placed. My invention overcomes these disadvantages by providing a simple device which maintains the body .of the shirt in proper form and also protects the collar and which permits of stacking the shirts and wrapping the same in wrapping paper to completely eliminate the use of boxes or cartons.

For the purpose of illustrating the application of our invention, we have shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, a mans shin-t l0 of ordinary construction having a body I! with a collar l2 attached thereto. This shirt, being of ordinary construction and not forming any particular feature of the invention, has not been shown in detail in the drawings, though it can be readily comprehended that the invention can be used with any type of shirt such as is now worn by men.

The invention proper is constructed from a blank [3 of heavy paper material, such as cardboard, strawboard or some similar paper material.

This blank is of a width equal to the desired width of the folded shirts and of a suitable length to This blank is formed with three transverse scores l4, l5 and I6 which divide the blank into a main section ll, an end wall section IS, an end section l9 and an intermediate section 2| disposed between the sections and I9. The various parts of the blank are foldable along the scores [4, I5 and IS, so that the parts may take the positions shown inFig. 3. When so arranged, the main section I! forms a body member for the protector which is indicated by the same reference numeral, While the section [8 forms an end wall extending upwardly therefrom and also indicated by the same reference numeral. The intermediate section 2| becomes spaced from the body member H a distance determined by the height of the end wall l8 and, as will be more fully explained, serves as a shield for protecting the collar of the shirt. The end section 9 is severed from the intermediate section 2| on two lines of severance 22 and 23, to provide a central portion 24 attached to the shield 2|, which central portion is in the nature .of a flange extending outwardly from the outermost edge of said shield. The severance-of the end section |9 along the line 22 forms wings 25 on the ends of the flange which maybe bent inwardly therefrom to underlie the shield 2|, as shown in Fig. 3. The flange 24 extends down toward the body member I! of the protector and forms a support for the outermost edge of the shield 2|.

Extending along the wings 25 of the end sec tion I9 of blank I3 are cuts 26 which throughout the major portion of their extent are parallel to the free edge 27 of the end section wand which near the ends intersect the said free edge'2l to form flaps 28. These cuts also provide at the ends of the wings-25 feet 29 which project downwardly from the innermost-ends of the said wings when the protector is in erected position. The wings 25 and the flaps 28 are bent along lines-3|, so that the wings 25 are disposed beneath the shield 2| and so that the flaps 28 project outwardly therefrom.

For the purpose of viewing the laundry mark in the shirt, a window 32 is formed in the shield 2|. This is accomplished by forming a slit in the shield designated by the reference numeral 33 and located along the score l and in forming a slot 34 in said shield along the score M. In addition, a zig-zag cut 35 is made throughout the center of the shield 2| and the shield formed 1 with two longitudinal scores and 31 extending across the same and up to the ends of the slit'33 and the slot 34. By means of this construction, two legs 38 are provided which have feet 39 at the ends thereof adapted to rest upon the body of the shirt when the legs 38 are folded inwardly. The slot 34 forms shoulders 4% on the legs 38 which serve a purpose to be presently described.

The manner of using the invention is asfollows: The blank 13 shown in Fig. 4 is first folded up to the form shown in Fig. 3. Upon release of the parts, the same spring back sufficiently so as to give access to the body member ii. The shirt is then placed upon said body member with the body of the shirt overlying'the same and with the collar of the shirt up against the end wall I 8. The shield 2| is then folded back again to overlie the collar l2 and the flange 24 brought into the collar with the wings 25 fitting against the interior of the collar at the rearward portion thereof and with the flaps 28 engaging the collar at the forward portion thereof. When the parts are properly arranged, the edge 21 of the flange 24 and the flaps 28 rest upon the front of the body ll of the shirt and likewise the feet 29 also rests upon said shirt. The legs 38 are next folded inwardly and the shoulders 4| brought into engagement with the inner surface of the collar of the shirt. These shoulders force the collar against the end wall l8 and restrain movement of the collar away from said'end Wall. In addition, the feet 39 engage the front of the shirt and form additional supports for the shield 2|. Itwill thus be readily comprehended that the shield 2| is supported by the end wall l8, the flange 24, the wings 25 and the legs 38 and held in proper position above the collar l2 of the shirt. When the legs 38 are folded inwardly, window 32 becomes opened and the marking on the interior of the collar becomes clearly visible. After the shield 2| has been properly positioned and the parts appended thereto properly applied, the shirt and protector are inverted and the body of the shirt folded over the body member H and properly pinned together. A paper band, indicatedat 45, is then wrapped about the body of the shirt, as shown in Fig. 1, and the ends thereof secured-together. Thereupon, the shirt becomes securely attached to the protector with the "shield 2| in protecting position with reference to the collar I2 of the shirt. At the same time, the

.body member I! extending throughout the folded portion of the body ll of the shirt, prevents lwrinkling of the same and maintains the body 'of the'shirtin proper form.

If two or more shirts are to be packaged,- the same may be arranged as shown in Fig. 5,-with the collar. of one shirt at the'end of the other shirt opposite to the collar thereof. In this manner, the shields of opposite shirts rest upon the :bodies of the corresponding shirt and form a stack, such as shown in Fig. 5. With the shirts so arranged, the same may be wrapped in wrap.-

pingpaperwithout the use of cartons, the protectors :giving suflicient rigidity to the package to prevent injury to the shirts.

The advantages of my invention are manifest.

.An extremely simple and practical construction has been provided whichprotects both the body andcollarof the shirt.

With my invention, the use of .cartons for packaging is eliminated, the protector having sufficient rigidity to produce the desired results. By means of the end wall employed and the shoulders formedon the legs, the shirt is held from movement relative to the protector. At the same time}, the wings and flaps formed on the end section hold the shield in position so that the collar is at all times protected. By means of the various supports for the shield, considerable pressure may be exerted upon the same and the shield adapted to protect the collar. The various supports for the shield being distributed throughout the extent thereof, prevent; bending of the shield and thus maintain the shield in protecting position. The device may be constructed from a single sheet of material and is readily foldable into its ultimate form. The shirt may be easily and quickly applied to the protector, requiring a minimum number of pins. The device can be constructed at-a nominal cost'and will effect an appreciable savingin the packaging of launderedshirts.

Changes in the-specific form of our invention, as herein described, may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of our invention.

Having described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is: 1. A shirt protector constructed from a sheet of foldable material scored transversely at spaced localities at one end of the sheet to form a body member, an end wall section, an intermediate section and an end section, said sheet being foldable along said scores to bring said end wall section into upright position to form an end wall for the protector, said intermediate section being foldable into spaced position parallel with respect to said body member to form a shield and said end section'being foldable into a position parallel with said end wall with its free edge in close proximity to said body portion to form a support for the shield, said end section having holding members struck out of the same and bent outwardly of the plane of the support to fit the interior of the collar.

2. A shirt protector comprising a body member over which the body of a shirt is folded, an end wall extending outwardly from the body member, a shield extending outwardly from the end wall and overlying the collar of the shirt, a flange extending downwardly from the outermost edge of the shield and forming a support for the shirt, the ends of said flange being severed from the shield and following along the interior surface of the collar and serving to hold the shirt in position relative to the collar, the severed ends of said flange being slit longitudinally and the slit portions thereof extending in opposite directions to engage the collar throughout the greater portion of the same to hold the shirt in position.

3. A shirt protector comprising a body member over which the body of a shirt is folded, an end wall extending outwardly from the body member, a shield extending outwardly from the end wall and overlying the collar of the shirt, a window in said shield exposing the interior of the collar of the shirt and legs extending downwardly from the edges of the shield in said window and toward the body member for holding the shield in position relative to the collar of the shirt.

4. A shirt protector comprising a body member over which the body of a shirt is folded, an end wall extending outwardly from the body and restraining movement of the shirt in one direction, a shield extending outwardly from the end wall and overlying the collar of the shirt, a window in said shield exposing the interior of the collar of the shirt and legs extending downwardly from the edges of the shield in said window and toward the body member for holding the shield in position relative to the collar of the shirt, said legs having portions engaging the inner surfaces of the collar and restraining movement of the shirt in the opposite direction.

5. A shirt protector comprising a body member over which the body of a shirt. is folded, an end wall extending outwardly from the body member, a shield extending outwardly from the end wall and overlying the collar of the shirt, a flange extending inwardly from the outermost edge of the shield and forming a support for the shirt, a window in said shield expos ng the interior of the collar of the shirt and extending up to said end wall and flange, and legs extending inwardly from the edges of the shield in said window and toward the body member, said legs having portions engaging the end wall and other portions engaging the flange for holding the end wall and flange in erect position.

6. A shirt protector comprising a body member over which the body of a shirt is folded, an end wall extending outwardly from the body member, a shield extending outwardly from the end wall and overlying the collar of the shirt, a flange extending inwardly from the outermost edge of the shield and forming a support for the shirt, said flange being disposed intermediate the forward and rearward portions of the collar, the ends of said flange being severed to form two portions bent in opposite directions and following along the interior surface of the collar and serving to hold the shield in position relative to the collar.

'7. A shirt protector comprising a body member over which the body of a shirt is folded, an end wall extending outwardly from the body member, a shield extending outwardly from the end wall and overlying the collar of the shirt, a flange extending inwardly from the outermost edge of the shield and forming a support for the shirt, said flange being disposed intermediate the forward and rearward portions of the collar, the ends of said flange being severed to form two portions, one of said portions being bent rearwardly and the other of said portions being bent forwardly, said portions following along the interior surface of the collar and serving to hold the shield in position relative to the collar.

8. A shirt protector comprising a body member over which the body of a shirt is folded, an end wall extending outwardly from the body member, a shield extending outwardly from the end wall and overlying the collar of the shirt, a flange extending inwardly from the outermost edge of the shield and forming a support for the shirt, said flange being disposed intermediate the forward and rearward portions of the collar, the ends of said flange being severed to form two portions, one of said portions being bent rearwardly and the other of said portions being bent forwardly, said portions following along the interior surface of the collar and serving to hold the shield in position relative to the collar, said rearwardly extending portions having an edge resting upon the body of the shirt and an edge underlying the shield for supporting the shield.

9. A shirt protector comprising a body member over which the body of a shirt is folded, an end wall extending outwardly from the body member, a shield extending outwardly from the end wall and overlying the collar of the shirt, a flange extending inwardly from the outermost edge of the shield and forming a support for the shirt, said flange being disposed intermediate the forward and rearward portions of the collar, the ends of said flange being severed to form two portions, one of said portions bein bentrearwardly andthe other of said portions being bent forwardly, said portions following along the interior surface of the collar and serving to hold the shield in position relative to the collar, said forwardly extending portions being formed from the lowermost parts of the ends of the'flange and terminating short of the ends of the flange to leave on the rearwardly extending portion edges resting upon the body of the shirt and edges underlying the shield for supporting the shield.

RUSSELL J. HENNESSEY. WORTHINGTON D. GENCK. REYNOLDS GUYER. 

